Progressive reported a $123 million net loss for December that included $337 million in write-downs for the period, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based personal lines insurer reported today.

Progressive said it took the write-downs on securities "determined to have had other-than-temporary declines in market value. The company said 85 percent of the write-downs were on securities held in its insurance subsidiaries and $156 million was in redeemable preferred stocks that were initially written down in the third quarter of last year.

For the month of December, net loss stood at $123 million compared to net income of $68 million for the same period in 2007.

Net premiums written remained virtually unchanged for the month at $906 million.

The combined ratio for the month rose 3.1 points to 98.9.

The deterioration in the combined ratio reflected an increase in claims frequency for property and collision coverage in the Midwest, Upper Great Plains and New England areas of the United States reflecting severe weather conditions in December.

For the three months ending 2008, Progressive reported net income dropped 33 percent, or $77 million, to $159 million. Net premiums written were unchanged at more than $3 billion.

The combined ratio rose 0.2 points to 95.2.

Special Reports /

$300M-Plus Securities Write-Down Adds To Progressive's Loss

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